


Slipping Under

by Sodiumn



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Humor, One Shot, ladynoir if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 12:35:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6657925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sodiumn/pseuds/Sodiumn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Okay, so Cat Noir gets some cat powers while transformed, we all know that. But is he the only one? Night vision is cool and all, but Ladybug has a few surprises of her own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slipping Under

**Author's Note:**

> I tend to use English dub names/translations/phrases.
> 
> This fic isn't intended to be super serious, so I'm not sweating keeping everyone very in character.
> 
> Enjoy!

Fighting a vampire akuma, Adrien reflected, wasn’t the weirdest thing they had ever done, but it definitely ranked up there.

 

Usually akumatized villains that used transformations were a little more...surreal in their methodology. Zapping people into mummies with ancient Egyptian relics? Sure, why not. Fairy wands to bespell people? Yeah, okay. Throwing coin tokens at people to turn them into arcade characters? Alright, that one was a little bit weird, but whatever.

 

But a dude in a cape flying around and literally  _ biting  _ people to turn them into mindless vampiric minions? That was bit much. And kind of creepy.

 

Since Hawkmoth had the approximate imagination of a toddler, this villain was simply called Vampire King. Unfortunately, his powers weren’t as lame as his title, as being a magical vampire also apparently came with the power of flight. His minions were fortunately grounded, but Adrien, as his black-clad alter-ego, was still not having a good time. He hated the ones that could fly--an extendable staff and some boosted jumping skills only did so much to help even the playing field. Even lightning-quick leaps off of rooftops didn’t have much effect--unlike his Lady, he had a heck of a time redirecting himself once he was airborne, making his vaulting attacks trivial for the vampire to dodge.

 

Even worse, Vampire King would summon waves of magical bats every time he was able to stand still--or rather, float still, as the case may be--and while they dissipated quickly, getting hit by them  _ hurt _ .

 

Still, he and Ladybug were doing what they could under the night-time light of the full moon to bring Vampire King down. Adrien leapt through the air, once again zipping right past the villain as he darted sideways out of the hero’s reach, and he landed in a crouch next to red-clad teammate on the next roof over.

 

“I can’t land a hit on him,” he complained. “This  _ sucks _ .”

 

Ladybug rolled her eyes at the pun even as she threw her yoyo out in a wide arc to keep Vampire King busy dodging.

 

“Yeah, it’s a real pain in the neck,” she said dryly in return, making Adrien grin. He loved it when she got sassy.

 

“Any ideas?” he asked.

 

Ladybug hummed in reply. “He’s been avoid the churches, so presumably he has some of the usual vampire weaknesses.”

 

Adrien frowned. “So, should we just keep him busy until dawn? That’s hours from now.”

 

Ladybug shook her head, then zipped her yoyo out to launch herself out into the night sky. Vampire King had been turning to chase a new victim on the ground, but the move forced him on the retreat once more. Adrien obligingly followed, swinging his staff at the villain as though he were a pinata. He missed again, making him groan in frustration, but he did succeed in making the vampire turn away from the idiot civilian rubbernecker he had been pursuing.

 

“You can’t win!” the villain screamed at them. “They laughed at me for my costume! Well, who’s laughing  _ now _ ? Soon everyone will be vampires, you can’t stop it!”

 

“Yo  _ sham- _ pire, you’re  _ batty _ if you think you can beat us! Me and Ladybug, we’re unstoppable!” Adrien yelled back, trying to taunt the villain into slipping up. In lieu of a response, Vampire King simply spread his arms, a fresh group of semi-tangible bats flying from his sleeves at Adrien’s face.

 

“Careful!” Ladybug yelled, yanking him clear of the attack with a quick wrap-and-jerk of her yoyo.

 

“Thanks Bugaboo,” he croaked from where he had landed in a tangle pile beside her.

 

Ladybug groaned. “Don’t call me ‘Bugaboo’! Anyways, we need a plan. We won’t be able to stall him until the sun comes out--not without transforming again. Not to mention I have a physics test tomorrow morning! I am not failing it over this Twilight wannabe!”

 

Adrien felt her pain. He had a physics test the next day, too. Ladybug’s school must be on a similar curriculum plan as his. Maybe he could talk her into a costumed study session at some point? He put a pin in that idea for later, adding it to his mental get-closer-to-Ladybug planning chart.

 

“We could dig up some garlic, maybe?” he offered instead as a suggestion.

 

“That will just keep him on the run,” Ladybug replied with a distant voice, clearly deep in thought.  “We need a way to pin him down.”

 

Adrien frowned. “How are we going to do that without risking getting bitten ourselves?”

 

Ladybug snapped her fingers. “Maybe that’s exactly what we do need to risk! I have an idea!” Adrien frowned at her. That didn’t sound good.

 

Ladybug leapt away from Adrien once more, whipping her yoyo out yet again to keep Vampire King moving. Landing gracefully on the opposing, she threw her yoyo skywards.

 

“ **Lucky Charm** !” she yelled. There was a bright burst of red, and a spotted makeup compact fell into her hands. “Well, that’s something,” she said dubiously.

 

“Don’t worry my Lady,” Adrien assured her. “You don’t need any makeup. I think you are  _ purr _ -fect!” Ladybug rolled her eyes at him, but he could see her lips twitch a little. Victory!

 

Then she snapped her fingers. “I’ve got it! Take this!” She threw the compact across the street at him, and he caught it with a yelp. “Vampires can’t stand mirrors! Use the mirror inside it to drive him towards me, and I’ll lay a trap for him!”

 

Adrien peered up at her, suddenly feeling serious. “Are you sure? I hate it when you are the bait.”

 

Ladybug nodded at him firmly. “Trust me.” She turned sharply away, launching herself with a toss of her yoyo towards the vampire, then using her momentum to swing around a lightpost and land in the street below.

 

“I do trust you,” Adrien whispered to himself. “It’s the villains I don’t trust…” He preferred it when he was the designated akuma victim target, or when he could take the hits for Ladybug. It was mostly for selfish reasons--he couldn’t stand the thought of losing her--but it was also because she was the only one who could purify the akuma butterflies and truly win the fight. Still, she usually knew what she was doing, even when he didn’t.

 

With a sigh, he launched himself at Vampire once more, making the villain drop down to slightly below rooftop level to dodge him. “ **Cataclysm!** ” Adrien yelled, hand filling with liquid black entropy. He shoved it into a large nearby chimney, sending shattered brickwork raining down on the villain below. Taking advantage of his distraction, he dropped down even as he extended his staff horizontally to brace against the buildings on either side, leaving him dangling with one hand. With his other hand, he flipped open the compact, shoving it towards the vampire.

 

“Hey! Count Whack-ula!” Adrien yelled, making the villain spin around. “Sink your teeth into  _ this _ !”

 

The vampire screamed, raising his arms up to block his eyes and dropping back and away. Adrien jerked himself up with his staff, gaining a little upwards momentum so he could pull it in and free it, spinning it around to bring it sharply down overhand, smacking Vampire King straight down towards where Ladybug stood below.

 

He dropped down to the street even as Ladybug caught Vampire King by an arm and spun him down into the ground. But then the villain pushed himself right back up and reversed the grip on Ladybug, pinning her back against him with her facing out towards Adrien.

 

“Ladybug!” he screamed, distraught. He started forward, staff spinning, but Vampire King pulled her in tighter in response, one arm tight across her collarbone and shoulders as his other hand gripped the wrist of her yoyo-holding arm. He was glaring from over one shoulder, Ladybug’s neck in perfect position for him to bite down if he chose.

 

“Stop right there, Cat Noir!” the villain yelled and Adrien halted, torn. On one hand, he had to rescue his Lady. On the other hand, he couldn’t risk her getting turned into a vampire herself.

 

Vampire’s eyes gleamed. “Give me your Miraculous and I might let her go,” he taunted. Adrien knew it was a lie, but he hesitated all the same. Then he caught sight of Ladybug’s face. She didn’t look scared--in fact, she was  _ smirking _ , unseen to the villain from his angle behind her. Adrien blinked at her in surprise and she  _ winked _ at him, of all things.

 

Clearly she had things under control, even if it didn’t look like it from his perspective. “Bite me,” Adrien insultingly retorted. “I’ll never give up my Miraculous!” he yelled, determination renewed by Ladybug’s clear confidence despite her predicament.

 

“Fine, have it your way,” the villain replied, then  _ sank his fangs into Ladybug’s neck _ .

 

Shock lanced right through Adrien’s heart. “ _ Ladybug _ !” he screamed once again, this time truly panicked. Had she gambled too much and now lost everything?

 

But then--

 

Then Vampire King fell to the ground, body jerking wildly. Adrien stared, utterly bewildered as Ladybug giggled to herself, delicately stepping over the spasming villain to reach down and tug his cape off of him.

 

“You--but what--how did--” he stuttered, feeling baffled and relieved, all at once.

 

Ladybug simply grinned at his confusion, looking a little smug.

 

“What the heck just happened?!” he cried out, jogging over to stand in front of her, grabbing her by both shoulders to look her over. A pair of pinprick holes were obvious on her neck.

 

“Silly kitty, didn’t you know?” Ladybug asked teasingly, innocently batting her eyelashes at him. “Ladybugs have poisonous blood.”

 

Adrien’s mouth was hanging wide open. Ladybug reached out to rest a slim finger under his chin, delicately pushing it shut. “What’s wrong?” she asked, expression too guileless to be sincere. “Cat got your tongue?” 

 

She turned away from him, still looking far too pleased with herself as she ripped the cloak she held down the center, releasing a black butterfly. Beyond her, Vampire King was still twitching, now with foam coming from his mouth. One purification later and she was downright  _ sashaying  _ as she went to pick up the makeup compact from where he had dropped it. “ **Miraculous Ladybug!** ” she called out, throwing it into the air and restoring Paris to it’s usual beauty.

 

Black evil dissipated from Vampire’s form to reveal--a kid still dressed as a vampire. Apparently he had been taking part in some dark creatures LARPing when Hawkmoth had gotten his metaphorical claws into him. You would think a guy running around in a cape and plastic fangs would have a little more practice brushing off teasing, but everyone had limits, Adrien supposed.

 

Speaking of limits, Adrien felt completely beyond his. Ladybug clearly knew it, too, and was enjoying it way too much. He loved her, but sometimes she was too much to handle.

 

“Pound it!” she cajoled him, and he obligingly raised a fist so she could bounce her knuckles off his. Her earrings beeped, and she turned away, still smiling. “That’s my cue.  _ Cat _ ch you later! Bug out!” A zip of her yoyo, and she was gone, leaving Adrien staring after her.

 

“That woman is going to be the death of me,” he muttered to himself after a long moment. His own Miraculous beeped, spurring him to make his own exit. 

 

As he leapt through the air back towards his home, something occurred to him. Adrien, like any red-blooded teenager would, had reasonably spent plenty of time imagining how make-out sessions with Ladybug might go. But now there was new information to take under consideration. 

 

“Note to self: no matter how hot it would be,  _ never _ bite Ladybug.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ladybugs are in fact poisonous, though it's not technically blood, but rather a substance called haemolymph, which is pretty much the beetle equivalent. Cool fact: the more brightly colored a Ladybug is, the more toxic it is. Red ladybugs are the most toxic of them all! 
> 
> Everyone can probably tell, but my favorite thing about the English dub is that Marinette is also a pun-loving little shit, not just Adrien. I love my sassy children.
> 
> Title is a shamelessly taken from Toxic by Britney Spears.


End file.
